Programme Associate

Our Guiding Star: Building Resilience

QCF was established in 2019 by the founders of Quadrature Capital, Greg Skinner and Suneil Setiya, out of a recognition of the persistent poverty, inequality, and human suffering that shape our societies. Our founders were already active philanthropists in these areas, and came to understand how climate would compound them, driving food insecurity, deepening displacement, and pushing the most vulnerable into crisis. This realisation led them to establish QCF with a focus on climate as the defining challenge of our time.

In 2025, the founders and QCF decided to bring the Foundation's climate funding together with other private philanthropic funding streams across poverty, inequality and human suffering under an expanded Foundation remit. QCF’s updated mandate is based on our core belief: that acute human suffering now, and cascading climate risks ahead, are interconnected crises that threaten the stability of societies everywhere. This demands action both downstream, to address poverty and inequality and help people secure their lives and dignity today; and upstream, to build the conditions that make lasting climate and societal transformation possible and durable for tomorrow.

This understanding frames the vision of the Foundation:

“A just and resilient world, where those most affected by intersecting crises have the power to shape their own futures.”

We focus on three interconnected challenges that undermine resilience.

• Human security; Protecting survival and dignity in the face of acute threats, including conflict, natural disasters and climate shocks.
• Poverty and inequality; Addressing persistent economic exclusion and unequal access to opportunity, by tackling the structural drivers of injustice.
• Climate risk; Responding to escalating threats to lives and livelihoods from climate impacts, which will intensify without a fast, fair transition.

Our purpose is to trust and resource those closest to the work to

• Secure today - securing the survival and dignity of those in conditions of acute vulnerability, through urgent poverty and humanitarian response; and
• Transform tomorrow – creating the enabling conditions for a just, low-carbon and resilient future.

The Role

QCF is looking for an exceptional Programme Associate to play an integral role in the effective operational management of QCF’s grant portfolio. Working closely with Programme Managers and Programme Directors across 1–2 portfolio teams, you’ll bring the process integrity, data quality and coordination that enable reliable, high-quality grant delivery. You’ll keep grants moving smoothly across every stage of the grant lifecycle, ensuring materials are complete, accurate and decision-ready, and that our systems and records remain reliable. You’ll work across a fast-moving, mission-driven organisation, collaborating with colleagues in Finance, Legal and Communications and building strong relationships with our partners. If you have a sharp eye for detail, enjoy bringing structure to complexity and take pride in making a meaningful difference behind the scenes, this is an opportunity to help strengthen how QCF delivers its grant-making every day.

This role reports to the Head of Portfolio Operations.

Key Accountabilities (the WHAT)

1. Grant coordination and lifecycle management

• Manage day-to-day coordination of grants, ensuring smooth progression across all stages of the grant lifecycle
• Track milestones, timelines, reporting requirements, and dependencies, flagging delays or bottlenecks early
• Support the smooth flow of information, documentation, and decision-making across grants and portfolios
• Help maintain pace, consistency, and responsiveness across a complex portfolio of work

2. Process integrity and quality assurance

• Conduct initial quality checks on applications, reports, contracts, and supporting documentation
• Ensure materials are complete, accurate, and decision-ready before PM or PD review
• Maintain clear, consistent, and audit-ready documentation across all grant processes
• Support consistent application of QCF processes, standards, and ways of working across portfolios

3. Systems and data management

• Maintain accurate, timely, and high-quality data across grant management and organisational systems (e.g. GivingData)
• Ensure records, trackers, reporting schedules, and grant information remain up to date and reliable
• Support portfolio-level reporting and data requests to enable delivery oversight, insight, and decision-making
• Contribute to the effective use and adoption of organisation-wide systems and processes

4. Operational execution (contracts, payments, compliance inputs)

• Support contracts, payments, due diligence, reporting, and compliance processes across the grant lifecycle
• Coordinate due diligence processes by ensuring documentation from partners is received in full and allocated appropriately for internal review
• Support meetings, convenings, onboarding, and operational coordination across portfolios and teams
• Help ensure operational processes run smoothly, consistently, and on time

5. Coordination and team support

• Act as a reliable coordination point across PMs, PDs, business partners, and external stakeholders
• Support effective communication, follow-up, and information sharing across teams and processes
• Identify opportunities to improve coordination, consistency, and ways of working
• Contribute to a collaborative, organised, and high-functioning team environment

Ways of working (the HOW)

Judgement under uncertainty

• Applies sound judgement and attention to detail in reviewing documentation, managing processes, and prioritising work
• Makes clear decisions within established processes, escalating issues, risks, or inconsistencies appropriately
• Balances pace, accuracy, and responsiveness across competing priorities
• Identifies where information, documentation, or processes are incomplete or inconsistent and follows through to resolution

Learning Agility

• Learns systems, processes, and portfolio context quickly and proactively
• Adapts effectively to changing priorities, processes, and organisational needs
• Identifies opportunities to improve ways of working and contribute to more effective delivery
• Uses feedback and experience to strengthen judgement, coordination, and process management over time

Humility and partner mindset

• Builds reliable, respectful, and professional relationships with colleagues and partners
• Communicates clearly and supportively across teams and stakeholders
• Works in ways that reduce unnecessary burden and support effective partnership working
• Demonstrates care, responsiveness, discretion, and professionalism in grant-making processes and interactions

Delivery discipline and ownership

• Maintains strong organisation, coordination, and follow-through across multiple processes and priorities
• Ensures systems, trackers, records, and documentation remain accurate, complete, and up to date
• Maintains high standards of consistency, detail, and process integrity
• Understands how operational processes, timelines, and dependencies affect wider portfolio delivery
• Supports smooth execution of grants, reporting, payments, due diligence, and coordination processes

Clarity, synthesis and communication

• Produces clear, accurate, and well-structured communication and documentation
• Ensures information, actions, and updates are communicated clearly and consistently
• Supports effective coordination across meetings, delivery processes, and cross-functional work
• Helps maintain shared visibility across grants, timelines, reporting, and operational activity

Organisation-first mindset

• Works collaboratively and supportively across portfolios, functions, and teams
• Shares information, learning, and improvements that strengthen team effectiveness
• Contributes to consistent, high-quality grant-making processes across QCF
• Supports onboarding, coordination, and effective system adoption across teams
• Strengthens organisational effectiveness through reliability, consistency, and attention to detail

What you'll bring

• Acute attention to detail, with the ability to review documentation, applications and reports and ensure they are complete, accurate and decision-ready.
• Strong organisational and administrative skills, with the ability to prioritise work, manage multiple processes and keep track of milestones, timelines and dependencies.
• The ability to work independently and at pace without compromising quality, taking initiative and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
• Sound judgement, with the confidence to identify risks, inconsistencies or delays early and escalate them appropriately.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to build reliable, professional relationships with colleagues, partners and external stakeholders.
• A collaborative, team-first mindset, enjoying variety, working across portfolios and functions, and helping others succeed.
• A proactive approach to continuous improvement, with the ability to identify opportunities to strengthen processes, consistency and ways of working.
• Demonstrable experience in a similar coordination role, ideally including grants management at a foundation, NGO or equivalent organisation.
• Experience managing complex grants across multiple jurisdictions and stakeholders.
• Good knowledge of due diligence processes and requirements, and of grant budgeting and reporting processes.
• Strong digital capability, including proficiency in Microsoft 365 and experience of grants management systems (e.g. GivingData), with a commitment to maintaining accurate, high-quality data.